Andy Serkis Gets Second Unit Director Nod For ‘The Hobbit’

The Hollywood Reporter has gotten quite a nice little exclusive today with word that Andy Serkis will not only take on the role of Gollum in The Hobbit, but will also serve as a second unit director. The Peter Jackson two-part feature is getting underway and having someone that’s been very familiar with the work in the first and who as he says, gets what it’s like to work with Jackson, it makes a good bit of sense.

“I think I understand Peter’s sensibility and we have a common history of understanding Middle Earth,” Serkis told The Hollywood Reporter. “A lot of the crew from The Lord of the Rings was returning to work on The Hobbit. There is really a sense of Peter wanting people around him who totally understand the material and the work ethic.”

One area that is making some fans cringe is the 3D aspect of it, which Serkis brought up. “The learning curve is The Hobbit is being shot in 3D,” he added, noting that the 3D would be used “dramatically, to give a point of view.”

“In the same way Lord of the Rings was an interpretation of the book, The Hobbit is being treated the same way,” Serkis said. “It will be faithfully represented with a fresh interpretation.”

With his shooting for Gollum apparently completed, he has plenty of time to take on the second unit director role but certainly loves his time as Gollum. “When we created Gollum the first time, performance capture was it its infancy,” he said, noting that today, “within the industry, there is more appreciation for it as an acting art form. It’s all about character, learning what the character thinks, feels, how he carries pain.”

Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.